General Tsao
General Tsao is an anthropomorphic chicken (rooster) and a chief antagonist from Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. Tsao was the self-appointed leader of a village in the Kunlun Mountains in China. He was the main villain while the cooper gang was in China in Sly 3. Wedding in China When the gang arrived in China to recruit the Panda King to the Cooper gang, they were tasked with rescuing his daughter from an unwanted marriage to Tsao in order to gain his loyalty. The gang realized that the wedding was close and they didn't have much time. After attempting to fool Tsao as part of their operation, he caught them off-guard and entered the safe house, stealing the ThiefNet computer in the process. Tsao then lured Sly into a sacred battle ground where his ancestors had fought off many opponents in the past and the power that was released from them remained in the area. The two fought one another and Tsao managed to escape, giving the laptop back in the process. Despite seeming all knowledgeable over the gang's plans, Tsao seemed completely oblivious through the gang's operation and had no idea that Jing King had escaped whilst a certain cop (Carmelita) had taken her place to arrest him shortly after. He is currently serving a prison sentence for letting undead praying mantis vampires run through the streets of the village. From what Sly heard, the locals were happy to see him go. A couple of years later, he joined the Gang as the shaman. Personality Tsao is obsessed with his family line, believing it superior to all others. This leads him to seek a wife from a bloodline he considers worthy. He apparently respected the Panda King during his criminal years, and thus wanted to marry the King's daughter so that his children would have the lineage of both himself and the Panda King. General Tsao is also known for being incredibly cruel, caring nothing for anyone but himself (Bentley even quoted that Tsao has kicked a puppy, twice! Even Sly told Tsao that he's met some bad men in his life, but Tsao was considered the worst in his opinion.) He is also a sexist, believing that as a woman, Jing King doesn't know up from down ( During Feudal China this was a common belief that women are ignorant creatures). This implies that he has no respect for her, other than the prestige that his bloodline will gain by merging with the Panda King's. Powers and Abilities Tsao is a powerful combatant, easily as strong and agile as Sly himself. In addition, he is a master of black magic. In battle, he used this to unleash streams of fireballs, send waves of zombie hands across the ground, and summon dragon spirits. He later used this magic to unleash an army of Jiang Shi vampires, and also to bring the dragon statue in his treasure temple to life, using it to attack the Cooper Gang. It is possible that Tsao's Black Magic may be part voodoo. General Tsao's main weapon is a shield marked with a yin-yang symbol. In battle, a spinning array of blades emerges from the rim of the shield, essentially turning it into a large buzzsaw. The shield is also the model for Tsao's master computer avatar, a computer program he set to guard his personal files. Notably, Tsao is the only villain who Sly and the gang never brought down on their own, due to his resourcefulness and ability to plan ahead. While every other adversary they faced was eventually brought down or destroyed, then hauled off to jail by Carmelita, the gang was forced to flee and instead leave Tsao's capture up to Carmelita's trickery. Appearences *Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves **A Cold Alliance Trivia *His name is based on a common American-Chinese takeout dish, "General Tso's/Tsao's chicken." *Tsao also might be named after a sword-bearing ape guard, called "Tso," who works for the Panda King in the first game. *According to concept art, Tsao was originally a raccoon. *Ironically toward Tsao's sexist nature, he believes women are ignorant and yet later he is fooled and arrested by Carmelita . *Tsao's shield, as well as the various banners around the China level, read "王子" (wángzǐ) meaning "prince" or "son of a king," which he would have become if he married the Panda King's daughter. *Tsao is 1 of 3 birds that can't fly. Oddly, the only bird in the Sly series that can fly is mechanical. *Strangely enough, Tsao doesn't act as a boss in the final mission of his level. Instead he summons a dragon to do his bidding. *General Tsao, along with his guards and the Stone Dragon, make up five-twelfths of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of the Rooster, the Dragon, the Pig, the Monkey, the Tiger, the Sheep, the Dog, the Mouse, the Horse, the Ox, the Snake, and the Rabbit. *There might be a possibility that Tsao might have known Sly Cooper and his ancestors before, even in Feudal China due that he said "the famous Sly Cooper" and/or "The Cooper family has been beaten by Tsao! Our legacy is superior!" but there is no contridicting evidence that Tsao and his ancestors met the Cooper family even during that time. If so however, Tsao's ancestors might have met Roichi Cooper in Feudal Japan possibly but this is unknown.